Friday, March 27, 2009

Henriksen, Conventions, SWEATSHOP, etc...

I did Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors in Chicago a few weeks back, which was a ton of fun. Met a ton of great people, saw a bunch of old friends, and somehow managed not to drink myself into a coma. The following week, I hit up MonsterMania in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite cons. Good folks putting it on, actual perks if you're an industry person, and no shortage of fun after-hours events.

If that doesn't sell you on it, perhaps hanging out with Lance Henriksen will.


I'm going to be doing Texas Frightmare at the beginning of May, so if you're one of my Dallas/Houston pals, I really hope that I get to see you there.

And speaking of Texas, Sweatshop is all but done. Yep. All of the hard work has finally paid off, and I'm quite pleased to say that its easily the best film I've ever had the pleasure of having my name on. Its goofy, gory, and really fun. At the first pseudo-screening I held for a number of journalists and one raver-loving star of Rob Zombie's Halloween, the reaction was universally positive. To quote Icons of Fright's Robg (which I plan on doing a lot), its "beautifully stylized, filled with over-the-top quotable dialogue and some of the best, goriest kills I've seen in years, SWEATSHOP is depraved in all the right ways!"

Between that glowing review and making the cover of this month's SCARS, I demand a "Hell yes."


Hell. Yes.

I'm hoping to premiere it at a prestigious film festival this Summer (get your passports ready), but regardless of where it has its first screening, I will always hold this film very near and dear to my heart. It is the first time that my vision has accurately made it from page-to-screen, and I can't thank everyone who worked on it enough. You guys are family.

In other news, I've decided to shop my novel around again, which has been quite the undertaking. I feel as though its ready for the masses, and I hope someone finally bites. And in a similar vein, I've decided to dust off Jikininki, one of my favorite un-produced scripts, and see if I can find a home for it. Although I'm in a creative slump, I can't ignore the cool stuff I've made in the past... Maybe if I can get some of it off the ground, it might get me motivated again.

And finally, for anyone who is still reading, the reason I've been so down is a combination of a lot of things. I need to be happier, I want to see a project gain some recognition, my chest still hurts, I'm REALLY bad at my day job, and I miss my life from five years ago.

Please feel free to contact me if you can speed up the harvest or teleport me off this rock.

So, yeah, that's life in a nutshell. Feel free to comment on, complain about, or rejoice over my return.

The ball's in your court.